Where Her Heart Lies
by lil-ch-angel
Summary: Draco and Hermione have gone from being enemies to friends. From friends to more than friends. How will she tell Harry and Ron? How will they react when they find out? Please read and review! Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hey everyone! OK, I'm starting another Draco/Hermione fanfic. Still not why since I totally think that Harry and Hermione should get together, but still, D/Hr ships are fun to write. Anyway, I have a tendency to start stories and not finish them. So, reviews and encouragement would be totally awesome! Let me know what you think and tell me if I should keep writing it. Thanks!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters your recognize. If I used anyone elses plot I didn't mean to and haven't read anything with this particular plot. So don't sue me or anything.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The Gryffindor common room was busy with students enjoying an evening of no homework. Oh, they had homework to do, of course, but it could wait. That is, everyone's homework but Hermione Granger's could wait. She did not believe in putting off homework. "If you do it right away then you do it better than if you rush it on Sunday night before class on Monday," she had been telling her friends Ron Weasley and Harry Potter for the past six and a half years. This year they had N.E.W.T.S. to study for, but this Friday night Hermione did not feel like confronting the boys until she absolutely had to. Tonight she thoroughly dreaded talking to them at all.  
  
'How am I going to tell them?' She asked herself as she absentmindedly flipped the page of her well worn charms book. 'Draco told me I should tell them. He is right, of course. He usually is. But they will hate me!'  
  
Draco Malfoy and the boys had hated each other since the train ride to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in their first year. Since that day they had not been able to stand each other. In their 6th year they had learned out to avoid each other for the most part. They still disagreed in Potions, and they still taunted each other in the corridors, but over all they attempted to ignore each other. Now the boys and Draco still avoided each other, but Hermione and Draco had become quite close friends. Since his father had been sent to Azkaban, the wizard's prison, Draco hadn't had so much pressure placed on him to hate every muggle born alive. Sure his mum still hated the idea of being friends with muggle borns, but Draco didn't really care what she thought. She had never liked him anyway. Since Draco and Hermione had been made Head Boy and Girl they had begun talking and became good friends. Just three weeks before our story takes place they had become slightly more than "just friends."  
  
Hermione watched her two friends from her lonely seat by the window. They were playing a game of wizard chess. If she knew the boys, and she did, Ron was probably beating Harry very badly, and Harry was probably thoroughly confused as the live chess pieces shouted commands and comments at him. "Don't move him there!" "Are you paying any attention to his queen?" "What was that move supposed to be? A five year old could have made a better move than that!" "No! Don't move me there!" "His rook! Watch his rook!"  
  
Harry had grown a lot in the past two years. He was still shorter than Ron, but then, most of the male population in their school was shorter than Ron. Harry's ebony hair was wild on his head. She didn't think that he even owned a brush. Not that a brush would help him all that much. She had attempted to tame his hair before, it was a lost cause. Behind his round glasses his pine colored eyes danced with both laughter and concentration.  
  
She could just imagine his reaction when she told him about Draco. An image of Harry floated across her mind. "You what?!" He would stand up sharply and come close to knocking his chair over. "How could you, Hermione? I thought you had more sense than that!" He would stare at her in disbelief as he sit down again and then would not look at her at all.  
  
Ron was quite different from Harry, though over the past six and a half years that he and Harry had been best friends they had grown a bit alike in mannerisms, but they still looked quite different. Ron's rusty hair was beginning to grow out like he wanted it to. It was mostly down his neck now. His mum had never allowed him to grow it out before, but last summer he turned 17, the year he felt she couldn't tell him what to do and what not to do, though she did try. Hermione smiled as she remembered a time the summer before when Mrs. Weasley had tried to trim his hair a bit. The result had been Ron racing around the house with his mother in hot pursuit. She did not catch him, and his hair had been growing since.  
  
Hermione tried to imagine Ron's reaction about her and Draco's relationship. She could see him sitting thee, staring at her, a look of utter disbelief in his chocolate eyes. He would gape at her until he would finally start yelling. "How could you do this? Malfoy? Not him, Hermione! Anyone but him!" A burning tear formed in the corner of her eye as the thought of Harry and Ron not speaking to her anymore crossed her mind.  
  
She watched as Ron finally beat Harry at their game. She watched as Harry laughed and put his arm around Ginny Weasley, his girlfriend and Ron's sister, and as he kissed the top of her head. She watched as Lavender Brown crept up behind Ron and blew on the back of his neck making him cringe before softly kissing his neck. Hermione watched them. That was what she was good at. She had a feeling she would be doing a lot more watching in the near future.  
  
"Well, Ron," she heard Harry say as he stood up and stretched. "we should probably get our homework done."  
  
Hermione had to laugh as Ron answered.  
  
"Are you sure we can't play one more game?" He did not enjoy doing homework and would put it off as long and everyone would let him.  
  
"What would Hermione say?" Harry responded. Ron sighed and cleared his throat.  
  
"'The sooner you get your homework done the sooner you can enjoy yourselves,'" Ron quoted her. Harry laughed as he took out his Transfiguration book, some parchment, and a quill.  
  
Hermione smiled as she watched Ron, Harry, Lavender, and Ginny discuss the various methods of transforming one piece of furniture into another piece of furniture. They boys had really improved their grades in the past year; Harry especially. He had gone from being an average student to being top of his class along with Hermione. Not only was he excelling in the normal things that they were learning, but he was also becoming quite skilled in wandless magic. He had been taking private lessons with a professor whom Dumbledore had hired for him for a year to become skilled with wandless magic; legilimency, reading minds; and occlumency, blocking people from reading your mind. He was also taking advanced Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense against the Dark Arts; those were the classes required to become an Auror.  
  
Ron was getting better grades for the simple reason that if his best friend was studying and he wasn't, he found that the wall had a more interesting time than he did. He solved this problem by studying more as well. He wasn't taking advanced classes as Harry was which meant that Harry could help him with his homework a bit better. Ron was simply trying to get through school.  
  
"Hermione?" Mary, a timid first year, broke through her thoughts.  
  
"Hm?" Was Hermione's only answer.  
  
"Draco Malfoy is outside the portrait," Mary told her. "He says he wants to talk to you."  
  
"Thank you, Mary," Hermione smiled as she stood up and walked toward the portrait hole.  
  
"Oy! Hermione!" Harry called after her. She stopped and turned to look at him. "Where are you going? Yu have been quiet and studying along all evening. Everything alright?"  
  
"Um... yes," she lied, avoiding his piercing green eyes. "Everything is fine."  
  
"You aren't telling me something," He said confidently.  
  
'Drat! Why doe he have to know me so well?' she asked herself as she searched for a new way to get him to let her go without following her. "I... I have to go to the library," she finally said.  
  
Harry raised his eyebrow. Hermione looked up at him, directly into his searching eyes. He knew she was lying. She could see that in his eyes as plainly as she could see that she was in the Gryffindor common room. She quickly looked down again finding a piece of lint on the floor to be very interesting.  
  
"Alright," Harry sighed after what seemed like an eternity to Hermione. "Come back soon though, Ron and I would like you to check our charms homework when it is finished."  
  
"I will," Hermione answered before turning and walking out to portrait hole.  
  
Just as Mary had said, Draco was out the door waiting for her. His blond hair was swept back out of his face, although it had a way of falling back into his face and getting in his way. His face brightened when he saw her come out. His smoky eyes showed her that he was extremely happy to see that she came out to him.  
  
"Hermione," he called. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to come at all."  
  
Hermione slowly walked over to him. He put his arms around her, pulling him close to himself. She rested her head on his chest as he softly stroked her coffee colored hair.  
  
"Are you ok, darling?" He asked her.  
  
"How am I going to tell Ron and Harry?" She asked, not looking at him. Her chestnut eyes were overflowing with tears. Draco held her away from him and softy tilted her head up so she would look at him.  
  
"You haven't told them yet?" he sighed as she shook her head. "Darling, the sooner you tell them the better."  
  
"But they don't like you," she answered. "They will hate me. They will probably never speak to me again."  
  
Draco pulled her into a tight embrace as she began to sob.  
  
'How can she like those two?' he asked himself. 'If she has to worry about them hating hr if she doesn't feel or think the same as they do, then they can't be that great if friends.'  
  
He softly kissed the top of her bushy head of hair. Just then the portrait slammed shut.  
  
"Hermione?" Harry's voice sounded.  
  
Hermione jumped and turned around. Draco kept his strong arms around her as if to protect her. Ron's mouth was hanging open slightly resembling a dark cave. Harry was looking at the couple in front of him with a look of disbelief and confusion in his jade eyes. It seemed like years passed before anyone said anything. Finally, Ron broke the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Get your arms off of her, Malfoy!" Ron cried as he pulled his wand out of his robes. Harry didn't even bother with a wand. He was holding a ball of red/orange light, a spell, in his right hand. He longed to fling it at Draco, but in fear of hitting Hermione instead, he just held it tightly.  
  
"Harry! Ron! Don't do anything!" Hermione cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. "He isn't hurting me. I've been trying to tell you for weeks."  
  
Harry didn't believe her. He didn't want to believe her. How could she turn her back on her friends for someone like Malfoy? He couldn't understand. He didn't really want to. He felt as though one of his best friends had betrayed him. He simply stared at her. The ball of light in his hand dimmed until it vanished. A look of hurt now filled his eyes. He was looking straight into Hermione's chestnut eyes. He saw fear. Could she possibly be afraid of him?  
  
"Let me explain, please," she begged, her voice shaking.  
  
Ron slowly lowered his wand, his eyes not leaving Malfoy, as if he would hex the boy if he so much as blinked. Harry lowered his eyes a bit before closing them and shaking his head. Hermione was looking frantically from Ron to Harry and back again. She could tell that Ron was angry, and Harry was hurt.  
  
"When I became Head Girl, and Draco became Head Boy we began talking. It turned out we had a lot in common. As we got to know each other we became friends. He got over me being muggle born and I forgave him for taunting me about it constantly for the past 6 years. Surely you noticed that we weren't bothering each other like we had been? Anyway, after a few months of talking every night, and becoming better and closer friends, we moved to being more. I have been trying to figure out how to tell you for the past 3 weeks at least," She finished quickly.  
  
Harry was looking up again, but he wasn't looking at Hermione, he was looking at Draco. Hatred filled his eyes. Hate seemed to radiate off of him. His hatred for Draco was not changing, if anything it was getting deeper.  
  
"You stole her from us!" He shouted. Draco opened his mouth only to close it again. Harry's hate for Draco was reflected in Draco's eyes.  
  
"I did not 'steel' her from you!" Draco finally shouted back, his teeth were clenched and his eyes glinting with anger.  
  
"You had to have done something to her!" Ron screamed. "There was no way in hell she would so much as care for you before, now suddenly you two are going out?"  
  
"I do believe that she explained that to you, Weasley," Draco said. "Before we began talking you would have been right, for once in your life. She wouldn't go out with me to save her life, and I wouldn't so much as speak to her without calling her a 'mudblood' or something along those lines. We got over it. Though with you two it seems to be a different story."  
  
"I'll say," Harry spat. "I will never be friends with you."  
  
"I never expected you too," Draco replied angrily.  
  
"Come on, Harry," Ron said turning toward the portrait. The Fat Lady, who had been watching all of this, had a sad look on her face. "If she wants the likes of him, she can have him. She isn't worth the time it would take to get her back."  
  
Harry gave Hermione a final gaze, his eyes hurt and sad, before turning and following Ron into the common room. And just like that they were gone, leaving Hermione sobbing into Draco's robes as he held her close to him. 


	2. Chapter 2

(Author's note: Hey ya'll, Sorry this took so long to get up. I'm trying! ; Am now slowly stumbling through a writer's block. Gotta love 'em. Grr. OH well, am getting there! )  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Harry stared blankly at his Potions book. He was rerunning the events of the night before in his head. She was scared of him!  
  
'Well, she should have been,' Part of his brain told him. 'You could have hurt her or killed Malfoy if you had wanted to.'  
  
'I would never hurt Hermione!' He yelled at himself.  
  
'You were thinking about it last night,' his mind reminded him.  
  
'Not her!' He told himself. 'I wanted to hurt Malfoy. Not her. She was the one reason I didn't curse him to hell.'  
  
This seemed to satisfy his mind, because it stopped arguing. Though even though his mind stopped arguing he didn't stop thinking about Hermione and Draco.  
  
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Ron sipped idly at his ButterBear. He too was thinking about Hermione and Draco and Harry. This wasn't the first time he and Hermione hadn't gotten along, but it was the first time in six and a half years that Harry and Hermione had stopped talking all together. Ron wasn't sure how Harry would handle it. He had always confided in Hermione as much or more about everything! Ron was also worried about Hermione. He was afraid that Draco would use her for something then hurt her.  
  
'Why else would he suddenly start going out with her?' He said to himself.  
  
'Why do you care?' Another part of his brain told him.  
  
'She is my friend.'  
  
'Wouldn't "was" be more correct?'  
  
He had to think about this for a while. Was she still his friend. She was dating his best friend's enemy! Sure, he highly disliked Malfoy, but it was mainly Harry and Malfoy's fight. Ron was just siding with Harry and because of that got the honor of being the center of a lot of Malfoy's jokes.  
  
'You were a bit harsh with her,' he told himself. 'You didn't have to completely abandon her. Especially right now when she needs someone besides Malfoy.'  
  
"Damn!" He said out loud. "Why do I have to have a frickin' conscience?"  
  
He clumsily stood up, his chair screeching across the wood floor of the Three Broomsticks. He had gone to Hogsmeade by way of a tunnel between Honeydukes, the sweets shop, and a statue of a hunchback hag. He and Harry had used that tunnel to get ButterBeer, various sweets, and a few items from Zonko's, the joke shop.  
  
"Had enough then?" Madam Rosemarta asked him, smiling kindly.  
  
"Yeah, thanks," Ron answered handing her three sickles. "Great ButterBeer, as always. I've always said that you have the best ButterBeer in town!"  
  
Madam Rosemarta laughed.  
  
"Why, thank you Ron," She answered.  
  
"Well, I had better be going, Rosie. Need to fix some friend problems, oh the joys of teen years."  
  
"Ah, you will look back one day and say 'I wouldn't chance one bloodly thing.'"  
  
"If you say so."  
  
"And I do. Now get going! And make sure you have Hermione with you next time you come, I need to ask her something. Come soon!" She called after him as he walked out the door and into the crisp autumn air.  
  
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"No, Ron," Harry said forcefully. "She would rather be with him than with us. She proved that last night."  
  
"Come on, Harry. Don't you think you are overreacting?" Ron asked cautiously.  
  
"No."  
  
"A little bit?"  
  
"No."  
  
"A teeny, tiny bit?"  
  
"No!" Harry yelled, then grabbed his book bag and stormed out the door.  
  
"Well," Ron said to himself. "That went well."  
  
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The next day Hermione sat at the window in her room. As Head Girl she had a room of her own, and a common room that she shared with the Head Boy, Draco. It was a common room that anyone in the school could get to if they needed the Head Boy or Girl for anything. Because they were not in specific house rooms they could decorate their rooms and the common rooms as they wished. Hermione had decorated her room with blues. The walls she charmed to be a very, very light baby blue. The curtains were a dark blue, and her bedding was all a midnight blue with lighter blue pillows. Her floor was covered with pale blue carpet. All of the light blues made her room very bright and quite a contrast from Draco's. His room was all greens and black. The walls were charmed forest green and the curtains black. His bedding was black with green pillows. And the carpet was a medium green. Even with lights on and the curtains open his room was always dark. The common room they did a mixture of green and blue. The walls were light blue, the carpet was light green. The chairs were midnight blue, while the sofa was forest green.  
  
A tear slowly crept down Hermione's cheek as she looked out the window. She saw Harry walking across the grass toward Hagrid's house. He was in a bad mood. She could tell by how he was walking. He was taking long, determined strides; his arms were stiff at his sides.  
  
"He's probably going to tell Hagrid that I am a traitor and such," she said to no one at all.  
  
"Yeah, he is."  
  
Hermione jumped and quickly stood up. Ginny was standing at her shoulder.  
  
"He was pretty upset last night," Ginny said softly as her friend sat back down and looked up at her.  
  
Ginny had her bright red hair cropped short. She had decided that long hair only ever got in the way, so she had Hermione cut it so that it was layered down to the bottom of her ears. It looked very nice on her. Her eyes were very muck like Harry's; bright green. They were warm and friendly unless she was angry. Then they were piercing, almost like green daggers. She was taller than Hermione, close to 5'11, and had a stronger, sturdier build. Growing up with six brothers she had always been very active and tomboyish. This resulted in her becoming very strong. She could either be beautiful, sweet, and comforting, or she could be menacing.  
  
"Oh, Ginny, he hates me now. He wont even talk to me," Hermione cried. Ginny sat down and put her arm around her friend as she soaked Ginny's robes with tears. Ginny patted her back comfortingly and tried to calm her down. After a few minutes Hermione gained her composure.  
  
"I tried talking to him at breakfast this morning," she said. "He wouldn't even look at me. He just picked up his things and left without even acknowledging that I was there."  
  
"He'll get over it," Ginny said trying to make Hermione feel better. "He'll vent to Hagrid, and Hagrid will talk some sense into him."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Pretty sure."  
  
Ginny looked out the window as she spoke. She could see Harry though the window at Hagrid's house. He was angrily throwing his hands up and making angry gestures. Ginny sighed as she watched him. She knew he was both angry and hurt. She also knew that it would take quite a while for him to calm down, though she didn't tell Hermione this.  
  
Just then Ron walked in. He looked worried as he walked over to Hermione and his sister. When he reached the girls he stood in front of them looking at the ground and uncomfortably shifting his weight from foot to foot. He didn't know what to tell her. And he certainly didn't know how to tell her.  
  
"I thought that you and Harry weren't talking to me," Hermione said as she wiped more tears from her eyes.  
  
"'mione, why don't you just call it off with Malfoy?" He pleaded. "Harry is going nuts about it, he swears he'll never speak to you again. Says that you stabbed him in the back by going out with his all time enemy. Hermione, I've never seen him like this! It's as if a part of him is missing. You know he trusts you and confides in you more than anyone else, even me! He acts as though he doesn't know what to do now."  
  
"I am not breaking up with Draco because Harry doesn't like it," Hermione said angrily, though she knew that he was probably right. She and Harry had had a closer relationship that she or Harry had with Ron. Harry told her everything. Whether it was a new girl he was crushing on, or if he was having problems with school, she was the first person he told.  
  
"But 'mione—"  
  
"Do you hate me, Ron?" She asked all of the sudden.  
  
"What? Of course not!" Ron looked as though he had just been asked the world's dumbest question. "I highly dislike Malfoy, not you. If you want to go out with him that is your business, though I strongly suggest that you don't. But that is up to you! Just don't expect me to hang around with him."  
  
"You are always with Harry, and he wont be anywhere near Draco." Hermione sighed. "But what about what you said the other night?"  
  
"I was mad, surprised, and a bit confused the other night. And now that I have had a bit of time to think about it, I don't think we lost you." He grinned just a bit. "If we had, trying to get you back would have been a lost cause."  
  
Hermione smiled as if trying not to laugh. He was right. When she had her mind set on something there was no point in trying to change it. She wouldn't listen.  
  
Seeing that Hermione was trying very hard not to laugh, Ginny and Ron quickly glanced at each other before Ginny grabbed Hermione's arms and Ron began tickling her.  
  
"ARH! NO!" Hermione laughed and squirmed. "Lemme go! Lemme go!"  
  
Ginny and Ron laughed as they continued tickling her until tears of laughter rolled down her cheeks. Then they finally stopped and the three of them laughed and panted and laughed some more. They spent the next hour or so talking and just enjoying each other's company before Ginny noticed that Harry was heading back toward the castle. Realizing that Harry would probably get quite angry if he saw them with Hermione at that time, the siblings quickly said good-bye to Hermione then headed back to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
Hermione spent the rest of the evening in her room. She finished her homework, tidied up her room, and had just finished reading her "History of Magic Volume 7" book when Draco came in with a plate of supper for her.  
  
"Potter and Weasley still being stuck up?" He asked as she bit into a baked chicken leg. She swallowed her food and wiped her mouth before answering.  
  
"They are not stuck up," she said. "Harry isn't talking to me right now, but he'll get over it. Ron doesn't like the idea of you and I being together, but he said he'd deal with it."  
  
"If you are so sure Potter will get over it, then why didn't you come down for supper?"  
  
"Um, I needed to finish my homework," she lied.  
  
Draco watched her as she picked at her rice with her fork. He could tell she was lieing, but he also was sure she would eventually tell him the truth.  
  
Hermione glanced up to see Draco's eyes fixed on her. She bit her lip as she looked back down at her place. She wasn't totally sure Harry would talk to her again any time soon, and she didn't want to talk about that night.  
  
"Quidditch practice was torture today," Draco said laying back on her bed.  
  
"But, you are the captain. You get to chose how hard it is," Hermione said, glad he was changing the subject.  
  
"Yes, but if I don't do drills with them they wont do it, and if we don't all drill then we don't get better," Draco explained, leaning on his elbow.  
  
Draco then began telling her about the various plays they had worked out. Talking about Quidditch helped take her mind off of Harry, even though she didn't particularly enjoy the sport. After talking about Quidditch for an hour, and discussing potions for close to an hour, Draco went to his room and Hermione climbed into bed, quickly falling asleep.  
  
(A/N Please review!!!! Pretty pretty please?? Thankies!  
  
Chris) 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Hey, I think this was sooner than the last chapter? Maybe? Ok, someone told me I needed to beat up Ron and Harry. It was a good idea, but I wasn't sure how I was going to work it in, so this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think!  
  
Disclaimer: I Still do not know Harry Potter or any of the rest of the characters or places in this story... Anyway, yeah. Here ya go.  
  
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Chapter 3  
  
The weeks seemed to slowly creep by for Hermione. It was almost Christmas break, and Harry still wasn't talking to her. Ron and Ginny would visit her in her room as often as they could without Harry noticing. Ron still told her she should call it off with Draco, but she told him that it wouldn't happen any time soon.  
  
"Harry will just have to get over himself," she would say.  
  
Harry, however, was not getting over any of the situation. In the corridors he would make a point to not walk near her or speak to her. In the Great Hall he would sit at the opposite end of the table from her. In the classes he and Hermione were in he would sit as far from her as he could. He soon decided he was going to be the top of the class, over Hermione. He spent all of his time studying, and in class he and Hermione began competing.  
  
"What will you come up with if you mix crushed earthworms and diced crickets?" Snape asked in Advanced Potions. He knew exactly what would happen. Either Harry's or Hermione's hand would shot up like a Jack-in-the- box followed closely by the other. And that was just what happened. Harry's hand shot up first followed closely with Hermione's. Snape let out a long, exasperated sigh.  
  
"Potter?" He spat.  
  
"A cure for burns," Harry said promptly. When Snape said he was right, he sent Hermione a self-satisfied smirk.  
  
"Does anyone know what it is brewed in and how long it is to be brewed?" Snape did not have to look to know Hermione's hand shot up first, followed by Harry's.  
  
"Granger?"  
  
"It is brewed for 2 weeks in water and minx blood."  
  
"Very good," Snape went on to teach his lesson.  
  
Harry's smirk turned into a scowl directed at Hermione. Hermione, however, did not look at Harry and just took notes.  
  
"He needs to take a major calming potion," Draco whispered to Hermione. "Maybe we should make him one for Christmas."  
  
Hermione glared at him.  
  
"Ok, ok. No. It was just a suggestion," he whispered quickly before turning back to his notes.  
  
After Potions was over, harry was the first person to leave the cold, dank room. Thinking it was safe to talk to Draco and Hermione without Harry seeing, Ron walked over to the couple who were still packing up their things.  
  
"Hey, Ginny and Lavender and I are going to Hogsmeade tonight while Harry is at his private lesson with Dumbledore. We were wondering if you two wanted to come," Ron asked.  
  
"That would be fun." Hermione answered, smiling. "Are you sure Harry wont find out that we all went?"  
  
"'mione, you know how his lessons go as well as I do," Ron said. "You know he will probably not get back to the dorms until midnight or so. It will be no problem at all."  
  
"We'll meet you outside the stone hag,'' Hermione said. Draco stood there with the look of a confused puppy.  
  
"Awesome! See you then!"  
  
They then went their own ways to their various classes.  
  
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Later that night Hermione and Draco sat in the library studying for their potions exam. After 2 hours of intense studying, Draco finally leaned over resting his forehead on his potions book. Hermione put her quill down and looked at him. His blond hair was falling out of place, and over all, he looked tired.  
  
"If I have to recite one more potion recipe...' he trailed off, not lifting his head.  
  
Hermione smiled as she gently rubbed the back of his neck.  
  
"Just one more before we go with Ron and the girls?" She asked.  
  
Draco rocked his head to the side to look up directly into her hazel eyes with his tired ones and mouthed the words, "please, no" to her. He then stuck out his lower lip and gave her a pouty look; a look that a Malfoy should never wear.  
  
"Oh, don't look at me like that," Hermione whined.  
  
"Please, 'mione?" Draco sat up and leaved over to her, resting his forehead against hers. "No more potions?"  
  
Hermione gently kissed him. Draco smiled slightly as he wrapped his right arm around her and kissed her back.  
  
"For goodness sake, would you two get a room?" A passing student whispered.  
  
Much to Draco's disappointment, Hermione quickly broke the kiss. Draco looked at her very hopefully.  
  
'No more potions. Please no more potions,' he pleaded quietly.  
  
"One more potion, then we are going to Hogsmeade," she told him.  
  
"Or, how about we skip the potion and just go to Hogsmeade." Draco smiled innocently at her. Hermione shook her head.  
  
Draco groaned before asking what potion she wanted him to recite. When she told him to recite the Potion of Protection he struggled to give her the ingredients. He could only remember two of the five, and they hadn't even gotten into the amounts and procedure yet. After struggling with the ingredients for 15 minutes, he gave up and Hermione gave him the correct answer, which could only mean that she really wanted to get out of the library for a change and go to Hogsmeade. Any other time she would never give out an answer. She would make him find the potion and write it down at least three times to learn it. The two quickly packed up their things and raced to the old, stone hag, which was the secret entrance to a tunnel leading to Hogsmeade. More specifically leading to the basement of the sweets shop in Hogsmeade.  
  
"It's about time," Ron sounded a bit annoyed. "We were beginning to wonder if you were going to show at all."  
  
"Of course we would show. Did you honestly think we wouldn't?" Draco grinned.  
  
Ron ignored him and waved his wand over the stone hag. When the statue moved, opening to doorway into the tunnel, the five of them stepped inside. The door closed behind them instantly, leaving them in a dark, cold open space. Ron and Draco quickly lit their wands, the light illuminating the tunnel ahead of them. They walked down the tunnel to Hogsmeade, laughing and talking together until they reached Honeydukes, the sweets shop. Carefully and quietly they crept out of the basement and into the shop. When they got to the shop Ron quickly bought several chocolate frogs, and Ginny bought a large bag of Berty Bots Every Flavored Beans. Then they stepped out of the shop into the snow. Walking close together to keep warm, they walked, as quickly as they could, to the Three Broomsticks.  
  
"Hey Rosie," Ron called as they stepped inside and found an empty table in the corner by the warm fireplace.  
  
"Well, hello, Ron," Madam Rosemarta replied smiling at them. Ron returned the smile with a bit of a dazed look on his face. Seeing this, Lavender elbowed Ron as if to say, "Hello, girlfriend, sitting next to you."  
  
"Erm, five butterbeers, please," Ron said looking away from Rosemarta.  
  
"Right away," Rosemarta replied flashing another dazzling smile at the group before taking five mugs out of the cupboard. "Where is Harry tonight?"  
  
"He had a private lesson tonight," Ginny said.  
  
"That and he isn't talking to me anymore," Hermione added as Rosemarta placed a tall mug of golden butterbeer in front of her.  
  
"What? Why not?"  
  
"Oh, he doesn't particularly like Draco, and he really doesn't like that I am dating Draco," Hermione explained shortly before taking a drink of her ButterBeer, enjoying the warm feeling that flooded her body.  
  
"Oh, No," Rosemarta said. "Poor girl."  
  
"Oh, yes," Said a bitter voice from behind Draco and Hermione. They felt a cold gust of wind blow through the pub.  
  
Hermione and Draco did not turn around, though they recognized the voice. Ginny propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. Ron sat, wide-eyed, staring at the doorway. And Lavender simply sat there, nervously biting at her lip and looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap.  
  
"Um... Harry." Ron's voice jumped an octave. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Dumbledore had to go to a meeting at the Ministry tonight. So, I thought 'why don't I go and surprise my friends at Hogsmeade.'" Harry looked from person to person. "But now it seems as though I have many traitors for friends."  
  
He threw the door open sending another gust of chilly air into the pub then stormed out. Ron, Ginny, Lavender, Draco, and Hermione looked at each other, not saying a word. Now things were becoming quite a mess.  
  
"So... who's going to talk to him?"  
  
Everyone looked at their mugs. An awkward silence fell like a thick cloud over the table.  
  
"All right, I'll talk to him." Ginny stood up.  
  
"No, I'm the one he is really mad at." Hermione grabbed her friend's arm.  
  
"Oh, no. I'm the one he hates. And I'm the one who started this mess," Draco said. "I'll go talk to him.  
  
"I'm going." Ron pushed his chair back, the legs of the chair screeching against the wood floor. "I'm his best friend, if he is going to listen to any of us, it will be me."  
  
Ron turned and walked out the door. The rest of the group sat silently around the table. The whole pub seemed quieter than usual, even though it was full and busy as usual. Many of the other customers at the other tables would glance at the table of teens. They couldn't seem to figure out why four teenagers were not talking non-stop like most teenagers would be. Hermione glanced nervously around the pub. As she caught people's eyes they would quickly look away and begin talking again. After waiting silently for about ten minutes Hermione couldn't take it any more.  
  
"I'm am going out there to see what it going on," She announced, standing up so quickly that she knocked her chair over backwards.  
  
She was answered with a chorus of "Me too"s and all of them grabbed the coats and headed out the door. They were not expecting what they saw when they looked around outside. A short distance away from the main area of town, Ron and Harry were fighting. The snow around them and under their feet was splattered with crimson spots. Their blood covered either faces, mainly Ron's.  
  
"Potter! Weasley!" Draco yelled. They didn't even look at them.  
  
Hermione screamed, her eyes wide with fear for her friends. Lavender, not handling blood well, fainted instantly, as Ginny gasped and clung to Hermione.  
  
"You guys! Knock it off!" Draco yelled as he ran into, trying to split them up. Harry and Ron just shoved him out of the way before Harry left at Ron, knocking him to the snowy ground. Harry landed on top of the red haired boy and began punching him in the jaw.  
  
"Petrificus totalus!"  
  
Harry and Ron both froze instantly. Their arms slammed to their sides, and their legs clamped together. Harry fell to the ground next to a shocked and bloody Ron. A few feet away, two witches were standing with their wands stretched out. A crisp, winter wind blew through their brown and red hair respectively. Each of their faces reflected both fear and anger. Everyone at Hogwarts knew better than to make either Hermione or Ginny mad. To make them both angry at the same time was to sign your own death warrant.  
  
"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley!" Ginny screamed, wand still outstreatched. "What ahs gotten into you two? You are both acting like children. You are friends, friends do not act like this!"  
  
'She is sounding more like mum every day,' Ron though.  
  
"Mmmm mm mmm mm mm mmm mmm!" Harry tried to answer.  
  
"Finite incontartum," Hermione lifted the spell. "Now, what was that?"  
  
"Friends don't stab friends in the back!" Harry cried sitting up.  
  
"I did not stab you in the back by hanging out with Hermione. Nor did she stab you in the back by going out with Malfoy!" Ron screamed back.  
  
"Yes, you did, Ron. Did you see who you were having a drink with? Draco Malfoy! The only person I really hate in the whole school. First Hermione dates him, now you befriend him. Not to mention you got my girlfriend in all of this!" Blood was flowing freely from Harry's right nostril as he glared at Ron.  
  
"She is my sister!" Ron cried before spitting a mouthful of blood into the snow. "you are the one who is so stuck up, and self centered that you can't even talk to Hermione because she just happens to be going out with Malfoy."  
  
"My worst enemy," Harry reminded him tartly.  
  
"Hey guys, could we try to settle this calmly? You know, no yelling, fighting, or hexing?" Draco asked cautiously.  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry and Ron shouted in unison.  
  
Ginny attempted to clean up Harry's face while the boys continued yelling. Harry didn't seem to notice she was there most of the time. When he did know he swatted her away. After trying unsuccessfully for a time, Ginny gave up and just stood back with her arms crossed and her face set in a fierce glare.  
  
Hermione was standing near by watching the screaming and shouting with her left hand in a tight fist on her hip and her right hand clutching her wand at her side. She was ready to stop either of them if they tried to start fighting again or if either of them hexed the other.  
  
'Why can't they just stop?' She asked herself.  
  
'Just silence them both and not let them talk again until they can speak reasonably to each other,' another part of her mind told her.  
  
'But then they can't get this settled,' she argued.  
  
'Like they will be able to get it all settled in one shot anyway.'  
  
'They can at least try. If I silence them then they can't even try.'  
  
"Why don't you just go have fun with your new friends and leave me alone," Harry yelled. He then turned and began to walk away before he stopped and yelled over his shoulder. "Maybe y'all were sorted into the wrong house if you like hanging out with the likes of him."  
  
And with that he was gone. He left Ron gaping at him, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying to say something after him, but not sure what to say. He finally turned back to the rest of them. Hermione and Ginny were looking at him.  
  
"He sure listened to you," Draco said. He put his arm around Hermione and the lead her back into town.  
  
"I'm gonna try talking to him." That was all Ginny said before chasing after Harry, leaving Ron with his unconscious girlfriend.  
  
(Review! Review! Please??? Pretty please???? Ideas anyone?  
  
Chris) 


	4. chapter 4

Author's note: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! I'm so glad you are enjoying this story. I'm afraid it isn't going to end up being one of those long 25-30 chapters fics, but for me, this is getting long. lol. ; Sad, huh? Anyway, yeah. Here ya go. Hope you enjoy it, please review!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they are all JKRowlings.  
  
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Chapter 4  
  
Harry plopped down on a snowy bench on the other end of town. He had just fought Ron Weasley, his best friend in the world, both the magical one and the non-magical one.  
  
'It was his fault,' he told himself.  
  
'But you hit him first, so the fight itself was your fault,' another part of his mind reminded him.  
  
"Just shut up, will ya?" He replied out loud.  
  
"Harry?" a soft, sweet voice asked.  
  
"Go away, Ginny," Harry answered almost harshly causing Ginny to cringe slightly.  
  
"I can't do that, Darling," she answered sitting next to him.  
  
"Why did you have to go with them?" he asked so quietly that Ginny had to hold her breath to hear him. Sighing, she rubbed his back gently.  
  
"Hermione is my best friend. I love you, but I can't forget my closest friend because you are mad at her. You know what I mean?" She answered. "It would be like you not talking to Ron because I was mad at him."  
  
"But I'm not talking to Ron now."  
  
"I meant before all of this. But do you get what I mean?"  
  
"I guess. Sort of," He answered, shrugging.  
  
"Sort of?"  
  
"You were with, him," he looked at her. He saw love and concern in her gentle eyes. How could he be mad at someone so sweet and someone he loved so much? He let out a long, deep sigh and rested his head on her shoulder. She softly kissed the top of his head and put her arm around him.  
  
"Ehem, I had to interrupt a special moment, but I don't believe you two are supposed to be here."  
  
Harry sat up and both of them looked up to see the weathered, wrinkled face of their new Divination teacher, Professor Alina, looking down at them. Her long salt and peppered hair was pulled back in a rather loose braid. Her small mouth curved in a small smile. She had her hand gentle hands tucked under her lavender cloak. She had a sweet smell of vanilla around her that always captivated Ginny in class.  
  
"Professor Alina, I can explain this," Ginny quickly said, brushing snow out of her short hair.  
  
"I know why and how you are here, my children," Alina answered sweetly. "I am afraid I will have to take 25 points from Gryffindor for being off the grounds when you aren't supposed to be, but if you hurry back to school I wont give you detention."  
  
Harry looked blankly up at her.  
  
'A teacher not giving detention? That is not normal. Then again, since when has a divination teacher ever been normal?' He asked himself.  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Ginny said, standing up and pulling Harry to his feet. "We will go back right away. Thank you."  
  
And with that Ginny raced towards Honeydukes, dragging Harry closely behind her. They reached the shop only minutes before closing time. They looked around just a little bit so that they wouldn't look out of place racing through the shop like a stampede. After looking around for a short time they crept down into the basement and down through the trapped door into the cold, dark tunnel. Quickly, they each pulled out their wands and lit them, flooding the tunnel with the dim light. The few plants that grew in the tunnel curled up, hiding from the uncommon and unwanted light.  
  
"Harry." Ginny stopped just before they reached the entrance into the school. Harry stopped and turned to look at her, the dim light illuminating her face, giving her a mysterious appearance.  
  
"hm?" He waited, not wanting to lose more points from Gryffindor if some one happened to notice that they were not there.  
  
"I'm sorry," She said. "I love you."  
  
Looking into her loving eyes, Harry forgot all about house points. He loved her so much more than he hated Draco. He loved her so much more than he was angry at Ron and Hermione. He couldn't be angry with Ginny. Realizing this he stepped to her, closing the space between them, and pressed his mouth to the corner of hers. Ginny wrapped her arms around the man she loved and kissed him softly and lovingly.  
  
"I love you, Ginny," Harry whispered between gentle kisses. He held her tightly; as though he would never let her go, and he didn't intend to ever let her go.  
  
xXx  
  
"Darco, wake up."  
  
Hermione pulled Draco's pillow out from under his head. Draco groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. Hermione rolled her eyes hit him with the pillow.  
  
"Come on. They are going to stop serving lunch in 20 minutes! Get. UP!" Hermione yelled.  
  
Draco sat bolt upright, the blanket sliding off of his pale, but strong bare chest. He threw the green comforter off of his legs and stepped out of his bed.  
  
"Lunch is almost over? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" He growled as he pulled a pair of blue jeans over his black boxers.  
  
"You seemed so tired," Hermione answered sitting on the bed and watching him, slightly disappointed as he pulled a black t-shirt over his blond head. He mumbled to quietly for her to hear as he combed his hair back and slightly to the right and sprayed a mist of hair spray over his head. Once he was finished he turned to Hermione and offered his arm to her.  
  
"Shall we?"  
  
Hermione smiled sweetly at him as she stood up and hooked her arm around his. He softly kissed her temple. Then the two of them, arm in arm, walked out of the Head's common room into the corridor at the top of the stairs that led to the entrance hall. They had begun walking toward the Great Hall when Hermione stopped.  
  
"Oh! I just remembered, I need to grab a book from my room for Ginny," She cried. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall."  
  
And with that she turned and raced back to her room.  
  
Draco watched her run with a slightly startled look on his face. With a small shrug he turned and continued to the Great Hall. As he walked through the doors he looked around, his head held high, a slightly smug look on his face. He did have a bit of a reputation to keep after all. Several girls from the Slytherin and Hufflepuff table looked at him, sighing dreamily and swooning over him, all of them giggling and whispering among each other. Draco, ever so slightly, shook his head.  
  
'These girls don't get that I'm not looking, I guess,' he though. 'I'm Hermione's and her's alone. Though that red-head is kinda cute...'  
  
He glanced at the Gryffindor table. He quickly found Harry and Ginny. Harry caught his eye and glared at him, a look of pure hatred in his eyes. Draco just looked at him, his face unreadable. He then looked at Ginny who looked at him for an instant and then looked back down at her plate. She had a somewhat regretful look on her face as she slouched with her elbows on the table. For being such a tomboy she usually had extremely good manners and posture, which did not consist of putting her elbows on the table or slouching. He next saw Ron who was sitting with Seamus and Lavender. He too looked a bit downtrodden.  
  
'I guess Ron and Harry aren't on talking terms any more,' he thought before mentally slapping himself. He had seem them fighting, hadn't he? 'So why is Ginny with Harry and not sitting with Ron?'  
  
He wasn't sure about this but decided to make sure he got some lunch before they cleared the tables. As he sat down at the Head's table he looked toward the door to see if Hermione was coming yet. She wasn't here yet. He shrugged and began piling eggs and sausage on his plate. He then began eating taking very large bites. Hermione would have told him to slow down and breath a bit. "Breathing is healthy for you." She had told him many times. Every now and then he would check the doors to see if Hermione was coming yet. She wasn't. When he finished eating she still hadn't showed up so he went back to the Head's rooms.  
  
"Hermione?" He called looking around the common room quickly before running up the stairs to her room. "Hermione? Love? Where are you?"  
  
He looked around her room with a somewhat surprised look on his face. There were books everywhere, which really wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that they were not on the table and shelves. Someone had thrown all of her books on the floor. The blankets on her bed were thrown half way off the bed and there were clothes everywhere. That was not right. Hermione was a very organized person who did not have a single book out of place, whose bed was always made, and whose clothes were always neatly put away. With all this in him he was beginning to get worried. Running down the stairs he raced out of the common room and down the corridor to the library.  
  
"Hermione?" He called.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy," Madam Prince said firmly. "Keep your voice down, please."  
  
"Sorry ma'am," He said not looking at her. He was too busy looking around the library to hear her. He looked down one shelf of books. There was a group of Ravenclaw boys huddling around something and chuckling. They looked up when Draco looked their way. They all had a worried look on their faces. Draco however didn't seem to notice them. He went to the next shelf and looked down the aisle, then the next and the next. She wasn't there. He then ran to the Great hall to see if she had made it there and he had just missed her. She wasn't there. Finally he wasn't sure where else to look. Frantically he raced to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"Toadstool," He urgently said the password. The Fat Lady looked a bit shocked that a Slytherin would want in the Gryffindor common room, nonetheless, she swung open her portrait and Draco quickly stepped inside and looked around. Hermione wasn't there, but he did find the other people he was looking for. Harry and Ginny sat at a table in the far corner or the scarlet room looking through a book, and Ron was sitting in one of the armed chairs by the fire staring blankly at the leaping flames.  
  
"Potter, Weasley," he called.  
  
The common room fell silent and looked at Draco. Ron sat up and turned to face the frightened boy. Harry, a surprised look on his face, looked at Draco. Quickly his expression turned from surprised to annoyed.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy," Harry asked bitterly.  
  
"Hermione is missing. Have you seen her? Has anyone seen her?" He asked looking franticly around the room. Everyone shook their heads. Ron jumped up from his large scarlet chair, a worried look on his face. Draco's eyes rested on Harry who stared back at him, unsure of what to think.  
  
'Hermione is missing! I've got to find her,' was the first thing that went through his mind.  
  
'Yeah, but who cares. She turned her back on you to go out with that Slytherin scum, remember?' A part of his mind reminded him.  
  
'But, I don't want her gone. What if Voldemort got her?' He thought franticly.  
  
'Who cares? I mean really, why go face him again for the likes of her?' The voice sounded lazy and bored.  
  
'I care,' he thought, his face now reflecting his worry as he looked Draco in the eyes.  
  
Remembering his bond with Voldemort he decided to try to enter his mind to see if he had Hermione. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Being careful to keep his barriers up as much as he could while reaching out, he carefully prodded Voldemort's mind. Harry was thankful to find out that Voldemort had left his barriers weak, or so it seemed. He pushed forward and soon saw what Voldemort was seeing. Hermione was on the floor, her hair going in every direction, terror in her eyes  
  
"Taking me wont help you get to Harry," she said bravely. "He hates me and wont risk getting killed to save me."  
  
"Silly girl," Voldemort said in his unhumanly high-pitched voice. He raised his wand, pointing it at her. "You must not know your friend that well if you believe that. Crucio!"  
  
"NO!" Harry yelled as he quickly pulled out of Voldemort's mind. He did not wish to see her being put through the one of the worst tortures known to the wizardkind.  
  
"Harry?" Ginny rested her hand on his. He didn't realize it but he was shaking.  
  
"Voldemort has her," Harry said. He couldn't believe he was going to help Malfoy with something, even if it was to rescue Hermione, but they had to get to her before Voldemort killed her or she said something about the Order.  
  
"We have to rescue her," he said. "He is torturing her."  
  
"I'm coming," Ron said quickly shooting Harry a look that said, "We are going to have to be in this together, get over it." Harry nodded shorting taking a step toward Draco and Ron who had already gone to the Head Boy's side.  
  
"I'm coming too," Ginny said standing up. Harry stopped short and turned to face her. She had a determined look in her pine colored eyes that told him that it would be next to pointless to try to talk her out of it. But he did not want her to get hurt.  
  
"No, Ginny. I can't let you," Harry said firmly.  
  
"Well too bad, because I am coming whether you want me too or not," She answered sternly, her hands balled up in tight fists and resting on her hips.  
  
"Ginny, I can't let anything happen to you."  
  
"Harry, I can take care of myself. I do not need you to be my protector. I am going to help Hermione. She is my friend, and she would do the same for me." Her eyes did not leave Harry's as she spoke. Harry sighed in defeat.  
  
"Alright, fine."  
  
He and Ginny turned and faced Draco and Ron.  
  
"The longer we stand around here, the more danger she is in," Ron said, sounding quite heroic. Lavender, who was sitting near by watching all of this, sighed dreamily at her boyfriend.  
  
Harry and Ginny walked up to Draco and Ron. When they reached the young men, they turned and all four of them filed out of the common room, one by one. 


	5. Chapter 5

(Author's Note: Hey, sorry this took so long! I went to Alaska then MN so I haven't been home much, not to mention I had a bad case of writer's block. Ugh. I hate that. Anyway. Sorry for making you wait! Here ya go!)

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"Harry?" Ron began as they stepped into the main entrance. It was empty save for a few students passing through.

"We know that You-know-who has Hermione, but how are we going to find him?" He asked.

"I have no idea," Harry replied.

He hadn't thought that far ahead. Actually, he hadn't thought ahead at all. How were they going to find Voldemort and Hermione? He couldn't enter Voldemort's head again, that would be too risky not to mention exhausting. Searching between where she left Draco and her room might help; but what would they look for? Voldemort was not dumb enough to leave behind any clues that anyone but someone like Hermione would find. Too bad it was Hermione that they were looking for. Dumbledore! He could ask Dumbledore if the Order had any information on Voldemort's location.

'Oh yeah, that would be smart,' He told himself. 'Just go to your headmaster and tell him that you wanted his help to break a ton of school rules to find your best friend.'

'Ex-best friend,' another part of his mind reminded him.

"Potter?" Draco called. Harry, who was still deeply lost in thought, did not answer. Draco snapped his fingers in front of Harry's face.

"Hello? Potter! Earth to Potter," He said. "Come in, Potter."

"Huh?" Harry blinked. "Oh. What?"

"Did you see the surrounding at all when you entered the Dark Lord's mind?" Draco asked sounding somewhat annoyed.

Harry thought for a while. Had he noticed anything in the background? An ancient armed chair flashed across his mind. Then a rotting hearth rug followed by the fireplace that the rug lied in front of. Then an old memory came back. A plump man with a small amount of grey hair and a pointed nose: Wormtail. A snake was curled up by the fire and next to the armed chair. Wormtail turned the chair around. There was a blinding flash of green light then an old muggle man was lying, dead on the floor.

"The Riddle House," Harry said softly. Ginny, Ron, and Draco looked at each other then stared at Harry, an identical look of confusion on each one of their faces.

"He is in the Riddle House," Harry repeated, louder this time.

"How do you know?" Ginny asked.

"Long story."

"Why would he go back to his old home?" Draco asked.

"How should I know?" Harry answered. "Where is the Riddle House, Malfoy?"

"I mean, it wasn't really like living with his parents was 'home' for him," Draco continued not hearing Harry at all.

"Malfoy!" Harry yelled. Draco jumped and looked at Harry wide eyed. "Where is the damn house?"

"Little Hangleton," Draco answered automatically.

"We have to get off the grounds so that we can apperiate there," Harry said firmly.

"How does he decide things like that so quickly?" Ron asked no one in particular.

"Um, little problem, Hon," Ginny spoke up. "I can't apperiate yet. I'm only 16, remember?"

"It's safer for you here anyway," Harry replied. Instantly he knew he should have come up with a different answer.

Ginny's pine eyes flared in anger. Harry cringed slightly and watched her closely and carefully the whole time asking himself why he had mentioned safety. He knew all too well what Ginny was capable of when she was mad. Telling her to stay in a safe place was probably the worst thing he could have said. She hated being protected.

"Excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty, but I can take care of myself not to mention I saved your butt last year," she reminded him. Harry thought he saw smoke coming out of her ears. "You will need me. Probably more than Draco and Ron put together!"

"Wow," Draco looked somewhat surprised. "Someone has an ego problem."

"You're one to talk, Draco," Ginny answered, venom in her voice. Draco immediately shut up.

"Ginny, darling, that wasn't what I meant," Harry quickly jumped in again. It was about as smart as jumping into a shark tank with a bleeding wound, but he had to try to calm her down. "I know you would be extremely helpful, but we need to get there right away. Apperiating is the quickest way, and as you said, you can't do that yet. Come on, Gin. Can we please just go? We are wasting time."

"Fine. Go." Ginny crossed her arms over her chest; her lips were pressed together in a straight line.

Harry quickly gave her a thankful kiss on the cheek then the three boys raced to the Forbidden Forest. Seeing as the forest wasn't on the school grounds it was the closed place for them to be able to apperiate from. Panting, the boys all stopped a little way into the trees.

"All ready?" Ron asked. His companions nodded, instantly all three of them disappeared with three soft POPs.

When they re-appeared they were standing outside of the old, menacing looking Riddle House. It was very run down looking. The roof was covered in holes of various shapes and sizes. The leaky roof was the least of the house's problems; the windows were all cracked or broken and the front door was hanging from only one rusty hinge. The porch was just as bad. It was completely rotten and caving in here and there all the way around the house. The flower beds along the outside edges of the old porch were no longer filled with beautiful, colorful flowers, but instead only weeks of various kinds. The grass in front of the house looked as though it hadn't been cut in almost 3 years. Even taller than the grass were the dandelions that had shot up here and there all over the yard. Over all the old, once beautiful house did not look very welcoming.

"Cheery place," Ron commented sarcastically.

"Yeah, in a creepy, haunted sort of way," Draco answered as he, Harry, and Ron all pulled their wands out of their robes.

"Well, we have to go in sooner or later," Harry said. "Let's stop wasting time."

"Are you sure we have to go in there?" Ron asked as Harry and Draco began walking toward the eerie, old house leaving Ron where he was.

"Yup," Harry answered not turning around. "You were going to go even if I didn't go, and don't deny it. I've become quite good at reading minds. Now come on."

"But I wasn't going to... ok, maybe I was," Ron said as he ran to catch up with the other two. "Ya know, Ginny must be the only one that you listen to. And now she is the one safe and sound in the castle and I am the one getting ready to walk into the hell house to meet almost certain death. Now doesn't that sound like fun? Honestly, I don't see why Ginny wanted to come so badly. This really isn't my idea of a nice little outing, yet she acts as if she is really missing out on something. Not to mention—"

"Ron!" Harry interrupted.

"Yeah Harry?" Ron answered his voice cracking.

"Shut up."

"Oh. Ok."

As the boys cautiously made their way up the rotting stairs a crow cawed from a near by tree. Ron stopped short and looked around and waved his wand around franticly.

"What was that?" Ron asked shortly.

"It was just a crow!" Draco replied annoyance coming through his voice loud and clear. "Honestly! How in God's name you got put in Gryffindor I'll never know. I thought Gryffs were supposed to be brave and courageous. HA!"

"Oh. Right." Ron took another step up. "Ya know this is a bad idea you guys."

Harry and Draco both rolled their eyes. Ignoring Ron's whimpering they continued to walk towards the door, their wands out at the ready and their eyes constantly moving and keeping an eye out for any sign of danger. When they reached the door Draco kicked it aside. The old, rusty hinge broke allowing the door to freely fall and land with a loud crash causing Ron to jump and whimper even more.

"Did I mention that this was a bad idea?" Ron asked.

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"If they wont let me go with them their way, which I can't do anyway, I'll go my own way," Ginny muttered.

She did not want to be left at the school while her friends and her scaredy-cat brother were in danger. Quickly and determinedly she went to her dorm. When she reached the dorm she threw open her trunk and grabbed her charms book. Completely forgetting to close her trunk she turned to the index.

"P...p...p... nope... no. No. No, no, no, NO!" She was not finding what she was looking for. "Maybe in the 7th year book."

Throwing her book back into the wide open trunk she raced to the boy's dorm to find either Ron or Harry's charm books. Seamus was just leaving.

"Ginny, you look like you're in a hurry," He said.

"What was your first clue, Sherlock?" She replied bitterly as she tried to step around him. He did not want to make things easy for her and stepped in front of her again.

"Just a hunch," he smiled. "Now, why, pray tell, do you want in the boy's dorm?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"To meet Harry?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"I believe I just told you that I can't tell you and you are wasting my time!" Ginny was getting quite angry again.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't let you in then. Sorry," Seamus told her with mock sympathy on his face.

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!" She screamed and quickly pulled her wand out and aimed it at Seamus. "Now. I need to get into that dorm."

Seamus's eyes went wide as he watched her wand. Harry was not the only person who knew not to mess with Ginny when she was mad.

"Why didn't you just say so?" He asked, stepping to the side. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"That's what I thought."

She smiled as she walked past Seamus and into the dorm. Glancing around the room she quickly located Harry's bed and trunk. She walked over and knelt next to the trunk next to the unmade four poster bed.

"Ick," she muttered as she looked inside the trunk. Along with Harry's school books there were also pieces of parchment with a little scribbling on each piece, along with a few quills, several bottles of various colors of ink sprinkled around, and several dirty socks thrown for flavor.

"Typical boy." She carefully grabbed the charms book and flipped it open to the index page.

"Here it is!" she cried.

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"You guys, I think this is a bad idea," Ron said for the hundredth time as he, Harry, and Draco looked through the house for Voldemort and Hermione. "It's kind of creepy in here."

"Thank you, Mr. Obvious," Draco sneered. He didn't like being in this house any more than Ron did, not that he was going to let Ron know that. "Next time I want to confirm something obvious I'll know who to ask."

"Shut up both of you," Harry ordered as they stepped into yet another dusty old room. Again they found nothing, just more cobwebs and broken furniture. The three disappointed, and yet relieved, teens turned to leave the room. As they began walking down the empty hallway Harry suddenly stopped.

"I should let you guys know, this is basically a trap to get me," he said.

"Now see?" Draco said to Ron. "That wasn't a totally obvious statement. That was only a mostly obvious statement."

Ron decided that it was probably best to just ignore Draco.

"But you and Hermione haven't been talking for the past several months," He said. "You-Know-Who must have spies at Hogwarts so he would know that."

"I'm here aren't I?"

"True."

"Wait, what about me?" Draco interjected.

"What about you?" Harry asked.

"I left the Dark Lord's side, sort of, and Hermione means everything to me," He explained. "I'm thinking that this was a way for him to get both of us. Ron will just be a bonus."

"Very good deduction, Malfoy," a cold, high-pitched voice sounded behind them.

(Don't ya just love cliffhangers? Review! I'll try to get a new chapters as soon as I can!)


	6. I need help!

Ah! I need help! Alright, in case you didn't notice (I'm sure you have) I haven't updated in 2 months. I have MAJOR writer's block, and haven't gotten though it. I need ideas. I am not sure where I was going with this story... So... if you guys have any ideas, please please please review and help me out or email me at . Thank you SO much! Oh, one other thing. I got a new ID and everything. My new one is Changel537 and I think I am going to move my ffs over to that account. Just in case ya lose them and want to know where they are again. Please email with ideas soon!

Kitty


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